Associate Director

The role

As an Associate Director, you will lead client relationships and day-to-day delivery across a portfolio of complex, high-profile mandates. You will turn political, policy, geopolitical, media and stakeholder developments into clear counsel, while ensuring our work is strategically sharp, commercially relevant and executed to a consistently high standard.

This role sits at the intersection of corporate advisory and strategic communications. You will be expected to operate confidently with senior client stakeholders, shape account strategy, lead teams and translate intelligence into action. The portfolio requires experience relevant to global financial information and technology businesses, hyperscale digital infrastructure and data centres, international philanthropy and development, and science, technology and public-sector research ecosystems.

What you will be entrusted with

Client relationship leadership.

Act as the day-to-day strategic lead for a portfolio of accounts, building trusted relationships with senior stakeholders, understanding their business and reputational priorities, anticipating needs and ensuring our counsel creates tangible value. Take ownership of account health, delivery quality and opportunities to deepen the partnership.

Corporate advisory.

Develop and deliver advice on corporate reputation, positioning, stakeholder strategy and issues with business significance. Connect communications recommendations to wider organisational, market and policy realities, and help clients make decisions with greater confidence.

Policy and geopolitical monitoring.

Lead monitoring and interpretation of policy, regulatory and geopolitical developments across Asia and relevant global markets. Identify the implications for clients early and translate complex developments into concise intelligence, scenarios, risk assessments and practical recommendations.

Strategic media relations and engagement.

Shape earned-media strategy and senior executive engagement programmes, from narrative and story development through to journalist mapping, relationship building, briefing and proactive media engagement. Bring strong editorial judgement and an understanding of how business, technology, policy and societal issues are covered across the region.

Account strategy and integrated delivery.

Set the strategic direction for accounts and translate it into focused programmes of work. Coordinate across disciplines and markets, uphold quality and pace, and ensure outputs are grounded in evidence and aligned to the client’s objectives.

Team management and development.

Lead and develop account teams, setting clear expectations, delegating effectively, coaching junior colleagues and creating an environment of accountability and high performance. Review work critically and help teams strengthen their advisory, writing and client-management skills.

Commercial management and growth.

Support the commercial performance of accounts through strong scope, budget and resource management. Identify opportunities to expand our work by spotting emerging client needs and converting trusted counsel into relevant new mandates.

What we’re looking for

A seasoned corporate communications, public affairs, strategic communications or corporate advisory professional, typically with 6–10+ years’ relevant experience; we will calibrate level according to depth of client leadership, strategic counsel and team-management experience.

Demonstrated experience leading significant client or stakeholder relationships, with the judgement and presence to advise senior executives and manage complex, fast-moving mandates across Asia.

Strong policy and geopolitical literacy, with experience monitoring developments across Asia and explaining what they mean for organisations, sectors and reputation.

Proven strategic media-relations capability, including strong editorial judgement, media strategy, senior spokesperson counsel and relationships with relevant business, financial, technology and/or policy media.

Relevant sector experience in one or more of the following: financial information, financial markets and enterprise technology; data centres, cloud or digital infrastructure; philanthropy, foundations, international development or social impact; science, technology, innovation, research institutions or government-linked organisations.

Excellent writing and synthesis skills. You can turn complex information into concise, authoritative advice, narratives, briefing materials and senior-level client deliverables.

Experience managing and developing teams, with a high bar for quality and the ability to create clarity, accountability and momentum across multiple workstreams.

Commercial awareness and sound account-management discipline, including scoping, resourcing and identifying opportunities to grow relationships through relevant advisory work.

Curiosity, judgement and composure. You are comfortable operating in ambiguity, finding the signal in the noise and knowing when an issue requires escalation or a stronger point of view.

Why join us

You’ll work with senior advisors and ambitious organisations on mandates where business, policy, reputation and communications intersect. You’ll have the opportunity to lead meaningful client relationships, shape counsel that influences decisions, and develop a team around the standards that define exceptional advisory work.

Beyond the licence to operate, we help leaders lead with confidence. If that’s the kind of work you want to shape, we’d love to hear from you.

Equal Opportunity:

Diversity and Inclusion:

We. values a diverse and inclusive workforce and is committed to creating a workplace where everyone thrives. We promote an atmosphere in which diversity of people and ideas are welcomed and valued. Diversity includes differences in race, religion, gender, age, lifestyle, ethnic background and sexual orientation as well as differences in experiences and ideas

Applicants are encouraged to submit their applications without their self-portrait, information on age, race, color, religion, gender, national origin, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, or other legally protected class status.

WATATAWA is a Singapore-based management and communications consultancy. Our senior

team brings decades of experience in helping governments, financial institutions and other private sector organizations respond to issues and seize opportunities.

In addition to WATATAWA’s own presence in key Asian markets, as a

WE Communications

company we can also draw upon its international reach and resources in North America, Asia-Pacific and EMEA. WE is an award-winning communications firm that delivers integrated marketing capabilities spanning the entire media ecosystem, including earned, paid, owned, social, experiential, and search.

Our people have counseled CEOs, advised Asian heads of state, ministers, executives and officials in the public and private sectors on a diverse range of complex and challenging assignments. We have run local and multi-national businesses in and across China, Korea, Japan, Singapore, India and other Asian markets. Our team includes former regional CEOs, country managers, managing directors, practice heads, news bureau chiefs, and business journalists.

Our collective experience is unique in both its diversity – working across cultures, issues and industries

-- and the success we have had in assisting clients in responding to some of the most significant communications challenges and developments in Asia’s recent history.

Ultimately, our firm is defined by the quality of people within it. Our goal is to do better work than competitors and that requires that we are uncompromising in the expectations we have of our team.